The Aureol was the flag ship of the line. She traveled between
Liverpool and Lagos stopping at Las Palmas, Freetown, Monrovia, Tema (southbound)
Takoradi (northbound). She entered service in October 1951.

Most of the accommodation was in first class and the public
areas included a verandah, cocktail bar and lido, swimming pool, dance spaces,
lounges, smoking rooms and libraries for both first and tourist class. There
were shops and hairdressing salons as well as a hospital unit. The dining rooms
were large - the first class running the full width of the ship.

The hull was white with a yellow line and green boot-topping.
The funnel was yellow.

I remember we invariably arrived late for
the sailing as we came from Cornwall and getting to Liverpool by train was a
protracted journey. We were always late for dinner but were met by trays of
snack in our cabin and always (for me) a bottle of pink champagne! I must have
had dreadful taste in those days! I remember being told that the bar opened
at 6 am for those 'old coasters' who could not do without their brandy and ginger
- I did not believe it. On my first early morning walk around the deck - there
was the bar - 6 am and open - with a following (I never did ask if they were
drinking brandy and ginger!)

I traveled on the Aureol perhaps 7 or 8 times
between Liverpool and Ghana during the 1960s. She was a friendly ship with a
wonderful crew, excellent service and good fitments - making her a comfortable
and elegant way to travel to West Africa.

I have many stories to tell about my voyages
on her and will share these with you in time.

LOOKING FOR AN OLD FRIEND, MICK JOHNSON
Hello, I recently discovered this site, and enjoyed reading the history of EDs,
living in Lagos from 1955
to 1957 my family and I were very familiar with the ships, going to and from Tarkwa
Bay every weekend
they were hard to ignore. My name is Sheena Muntz-Macdonald from Warrington, Cheshire,
I would like to know if anyone has any information about an old friend Mick Johnson
from Bristol.
I met Mick on my third and last voyage on the MV "Aureol" in July 1957
he also served, on the "Tamele",
"Winneba" he was Third Officer on the "Sekondi" in 1960 to
1961. I would be very interested to hear from
Mick or anyone who knew him.

Her fate! Not since the heartbreaking procession of passenger ships to the breakers
at Kaohsiung during the peak of the fuel crisis in the 1970's has there been
such an alarming list of liners on a one-way voyage to doom. The Indian scrap
yards on the dreaded beach at Alang are dismantling many favorites that in a
better world would have been saved for their singular beauty and precious maritime
heritage. On June 5 2001, the Aureol, as the MARIANN VI - one of the most splendid-looking
ships of her time, arrived at Rival Taiwan for scrapping.

The Leaving of Liverpool

From the ‘ Liverpool Echo’ – 16th March, 1972

Today the graceful liner Aureol, the flagship of the Elder Dempster fleet
and last of the great liners of ply from Princes Landing Stage, says ‘farewell’
to the Mersey and writes ‘finis’ to a proud era in Liverpool’s maritime history.

‘Echo’ readers will have watched with sadness over the past decade as our
columns have chronicled the passing of some of the most illustrious names in
Lloyd’s Register of Ships. And, on each occasion we have said ‘goodbye’, we
have wondered what there could be left to write about.

Yet, as the last echoes of the sirens fade, the ghosts of other great ships
will slip by in the wake of the Aureol as she passes into the hazy distance
beyond Perch Rock.

Ships like the Britannic, the Georgic, the Mauretania, the Scythia, the Circassia,
the Reina del Mar, the Nova Scotia , the Voltaire and the Hubert, and the utterly
magnificent Empress of Scotland.

It was in Liverpool that the age of luxury afloat came into being with the
introduction of steamships on the North Atlantic .

We can truly claim to have seen it all.

Elder Dempster cannot be blamed for taking their great white ship to Southampton
. Circumstances have dictated the decision for them. It would have hardly have
been an economic proposition to have provided a landing stage for a passenger
sailing just once every six weeks.

The Port of Liverpool has today said ‘goodbye’ to some of the glamour that
contributed to its greatness.

Good-bye forever!

Or perhaps not.......
See Rebuilding a Dream where one person has tried to salvage and save not only
the internal trappings of the liner but also her spirit.

Hello, I recently discovered this site, and enjoyed reading the history of
EDs, living in Lagos from 1955
to 1957 my family and myself were very familiar with the ships, going to and
from Tarkwa Bay
every weekend they were hard to ignore. My name is Sheena Muntz-Macdonald from
Warrington,
Cheshire, I would like to know if anybody has any information about an old friend
Mick Johnson
from Bristol. I met Mick on my third and last voyage on the MV "Aureol"
in July 1957, he also served
on the "Tamele", Winneba" , he was 3rd Officer on the "Sekondi
in 1960 to 1961. I would be very
interested to hear from Mick or anyone who knew him.
My email address is :- sheenamuntzmacdonald@yahoo.co.uk